I now have a list of over 150 activities that I designed for teen and children's expressive therapy groups thanks to repeat clients who challenged me to keep coming up with new ideas. I have observed that having specific instructions with steps to follow makes it easier for clients who may be unfamiliar with being creative because it gives them something concrete to do. However, I recently feel more drawn to using the expressive therapies to allow clients to have more control of their creative process. I will be starting a series of sessions over the next month in which I bring inspirational material for discussion for the first fifteen minutes of the session, and then simply provide materials for clients to have time for "free art." If someone seems stuck, I can point out art examples on the gallery on the wall, but I will endeavor to refrain from making ANY suggestions about what they should do with their art. I will, of course, provide encouragement and supportive feedback for whatever gets created. I'm excited to see how this will be different from using the structured activities. I'll let you know.